SOCIETY O. TOXICOLOGY HISTORY - Society of Toxicology

untapped market for manuscripts. The profitability of FAAT, now 10 years old,
continues to present a concern to Academic Press, the Board and Council. In particular,
it was reported that institutional subscriptions to FAAT are only about one-third of
those to TAP.
Having entered its fifth year, the ad hoc Tox 90s Educational Issues Task Force
continued to be very active as a focus to encourage undergraduates to select toxicology
as a discipline. The Committee has completed the second edition of the "Resource
Guide to Careers in Toxicology", a listing of more than 60 teaching programs in the US,
reflecting both predoctoral and postdoctoral training activities. The Guide was
complemented by wall posters with tear-off post cards to request additional
information. The posters have been broadly distributed to US and Canadian
undergraduate institutions and have yielded over 8960 responses since late in 1989. In
addition to the Guide there was a brochure called "Careers in Toxicology" which the
committee developed for distribution to young people considering career choices. Also
available were a poster display for use at meetings and a set of recruiting slides. The
Committee has also organized and operated a summer internship program for four
years. In this program college students have the opportunity to spend the summer in a
laboratory or office learning more about the science of toxicology. The experience to
date had been that many students apply but more government, academic and industrial
laboratories are needed to serve as hosts for these students. The Committee also
sponsored a workshop on what makes a good undergraduate course in toxicology on the
Saturday before the Seattle meeting. Twenty-five toxicologists involved in
undergraduate education developed a consensus on the content of a one-year
undergraduate course in toxicology.
The Technical Committee which seemed quite active in the early years of the Society
has in recent times struggled to find a set of tasks relevant to Society or membership
needs and which could be completed on a timely basis. The time necessary to develop a
sound technical position and secure enough approvals so that the document could
reflect the official position of SOT seemed to defeat many earnest undertakings. In the
thirty-first year, the Committee had evaluated possible alternatives for the Society to
sponsor specialized regional meetings that could complement the Annual Meeting.
The mission of theToxicology Educational Foundation and its Board of Trustees is
to educate the public regarding the role of toxicology in modern society, to promote the
development of educational programs in toxicology and to provide some grants to aid in
education of young students. The Trustees attempt to acquire, preserve and build
financial resources to achieve this mission. The Foundation is a tax exempt organization
operated for charitable, educational and scientific purposes. Members of the Society
are encouraged to make contributions to the Foundation with their dues payments.
President Reed reported that 272 individuals had given over $17,000 to the Foundation
which, along with other sources now has assets of approximately $75,000.